Snapdragons
by GreenCalenWen
Summary: A story about Sam told from Rosie Cotton's POV; i'm terrible at summaries, but even so, please r/r! thank you!


~*~DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sam, Rose, Frodo, or any other LOTR character or person I may have mentioned. There's just not enough Sam and Rosie stories, so I thought I'd add my own! ~*~  
  
SNAPDRAGONS  
  
He has changed.  
  
I look upon the face that once held glimpses of cherubs, innocence—now wane and knowing. His dark eyes seem dimmer, lines more visible around his mouth and eyes. He's thinner; days without eating having had their share of him. The weight of his friend's pain still rests on his shoulders, I see it whenever they hold glances. But when he is with me alone, hands me a snapdragon, and gives me his humble smile—he is still my Sam…  
  
When he was gone, I missed the days of romping with him, in the gardens he and his pop would tend. I remember it well; my brothers would sometimes join in, and even Frodo, occasionally, but mostly it stayed Sam and I. Seems like years ago… But I was here when he returned. I was here when he and Frodo extracted the ugly men from our village. And I am here, now, where he still takes care of Frodo's garden, he still comes to see me. I don't feel like romping anymore.  
  
I feel different towards him. Looking at this face, one I've known all my days…There's something inside me. Part of me wants to just sit there, staring at him all day; part wants to throw my arms around him. I tend to vouch for the first. Many times I have caught myself staring at him, etching in my mind his face, noting the changes a year has brought, he's grown handsome now—but he still is Sam… my Sam… still has that innocence…  
  
I wonder sometimes if he feels different of me as well. I have caught his eyes peering at me as well. We sit in my father's garden sometimes, in the middle of the snapdragons; Sam loves the flowers. We sit, in silence, watching the sun falling slowly behind the apple trees. His head lies in my lap, and I stroke his golden hair. He speaks no words, yet I can hear his stories, horrific, gory battles, and a desperate quest. The tales radiate towards me through the heat in his body, and I want to hold him so bad, entrap the innocence within him, my war-stained cherub staring at the sun. I want to comfort him…  
  
Then I look at him and see his eyes gazing back up at me. I'm startled, thinking he can read my thoughts as I can with his. I can feel the blush in my cheeks, but he keeps my eyes… 'Rose?' he says it like that, like a question, unspeakable yet brilliantly displayed. Before I've time to answer with another, he leans his head up, pulling his face towards mine; I can see the strain in his neck muscles. His lips brush mine. Quickly, an eternity in a second, but still my body is pulsing…  
  
He recoils, shyness vibrant in his hazel-chocolate eyes. My body is ecstatic, my heart has expanded, I want to take away his shyness, relieve the pain of his gory battles, take him through the sunset and paint him in the hues. But all I can do is smile. The blush in my cheeks has settled and stayed, joined with his own. All I can do is smile.  
  
Smile. His smile in return is painted in those same sunset hues I wanted. He leans up again, putting his hands on my cheeks, and kisses me again, longer and fuller. The world collapses around us, the trees and grass slip into blankness. The softness of his lips surprises me; his hands are so rough from gardening, his body from pain, yet the feel of his lips is like rose petals. I breathe him in…it feels so right.  
  
His lips pull away from mine, and move back on my face, planted rose kisses on my cheek till his mouth is right by my ear. Three words echo in my mind… 'I love you.' His rough but tender hand slips into my own. Love…  
  
Thoughts of the past race by…Seeing him first, ducking shyly behind his father's leg as the Gaffer offers his gardening services to my pop…secretly watching him plant snapdragon bulbs in the gardens—the only job his pop would allow him, being that small—then sneaking up on him…sitting in an apple tree as he gently pulled the ripened fruits from their branches…hours spent wrestling with my brothers and him, having to work twice as hard being the only girl…taking walks through the grown fields when we were older…dancing with him at Bilbo's birthday bash…watching teary-eyed, unknown and unseen, as he followed Frodo out of the village…seeing him return, matured, but still my Sam…  
  
He takes his hand away from my own, but something remains. I look down in it, and my eyes tear. A single snapdragon bloom lays there, red-golden in its perfection. Attached to the stem is a small ring. It's silver, and beautifully shiny, with a small rose-red stone set in the center. In the rising moonlight, it shimmers. I look up into Sam's eyes; they are shimmering as well…his figure hazed in the twilight…still my Sam…my Sam…  
  
"I love you, too."  
  
~*~FIN~*~  
  
  
  
please r/r! 


End file.
